Six Decades of Star Trek

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1960s

The original Star Trek TV series created by Gene Roddenberry. It lasted 3 seasons from 1966-1969 and was cancelled for low ratings. It then proceeded to become a huge cult classic in the 1970s after cancellation.

1970s

Short lived animated series that only lasted 22 episodes over 2 seasons. It featured most of the actors from the original series in voice roles. The length of episodes was halved from the live action original. Squarely aimed at the younger audience.

The movie was originally to be the pilot episode of the a new Star Trek series, which ultimately never saw the light of day. Gene Roddenberry then turned it into the first movie of the Star Trek franchise.

1980s

Possibly the most popular of the Star Trek movies and the first production in the franchise not to have Gene Roddenberry at the helm. The character of Khan Noonien Singh was brought back from the original series to be the main villain of the movie.

Continues the same storyline started in the preceding movie, picking up right where it left off. Spock was killed trying to save the Enterprise at the end of Star Trek II and it is up to kirk to save his eternal Vulcan soul.

Finally concludes the storyline started in Star Trek II. The Enterprise must travel back in time to find a humpback whale from Earth's past to satisfy the demands of an alien species threatening to destroy the planet.

After a series of successful movies, Star Trek finally found it's way back to the TV screen with an all new cast. The series lasted 7 seasons from 1987-1994 and is probably the most popular TV series in the franchise.

This TV series broke the mold as far as Star Trek goes, by being set on a space station rather than a spaceship. It featured more politics and bickering among the characters than any previous series, as well as a large number of grey characters. It lasted 7 seasons from 1993-1999.

The characters from the Next Generation finally make their big screen bow with this movie. It's a change of guard after a monster run of 6 movies with the Kirk and his cohorts. They dropped the numbers from the name of the movie starting now, but this is still referred to as Star Trek VII by fans.

Another TV series that somewhat breaks the mold for Star Trek series. While still set on a spaceship, this one is about a crew far from home trying to make their way back. While the other series had frequent visits to Earth, we hardly see it here.

2000s

The last Star Trek TV series so far. It lasted just 4 seasons from 2001-2005 and was the first series to be cancelled since the original 36 years ago, rather than the producers deciding to end things. It represents the last we see of the original Star Trek universe started in 1966.

Known at Star Trek X among fans and the last movie to feature the cast from TNG. Easily my least favourite movie, it was also critically savaged and performed poorly at the box office. The stage was set for a reboot, which took 7 years to materialise, the longest gap between two Star Trek movies.

The latest movie in the Star Trek franchise and the first to feature an all new cast that was never involved in any TV series from the franchise. It's a reboot of the franchise and the characters of Kirk, Spock, McCoy and everyone else from the original Star Trek series are completely re-imagined. The movie is very deftly tied together to the original Star Trek series and movies by putting it in an alternate universe to the one that is featured in the others. Both the universes co-exist side by side and they use the character of Spock to tie it all together. It's a clever way to co-opt 43 years of franchise history, yet start with a clean slate.

Star Trek is one of the most beloved and long-running Sci-fi franchises in history. The original TV series in 1966 has spawned a total of 11 movies and 6 TV shows so far and has iconic pop culture status.